Thursday, 5 February 2015

Eye-watering travel tech leads the way to the future and beyond

Technological advances have and
always will be at the forefront of people’s interest. From the Internet, to the
smartphone, 3D Printers and Drones. One seamless trend continues to create the
need for innovation and development, helping to push the boundaries of our
technological ability. Exciting isn't it? But do we have a new technology
that’s on the brink of being the next big innovation? This is visual
reality.

Have you seen the growing number of
new videos, adverts and
recent films all shot in the angle of a humans perspective? Take a look at thismusic videobelow if not.

Aside from being quite a catchy song
and brilliantly shot, I would like you to understand the underlying concept of
putting on some goggles and becoming transported into a different world. It
really paints a picture of what holographic visual headwear one day could be
like. Sounds overly futuristic, right?

If that sounds overly futuristic, I
am delighted to say its not far from this becoming reality. Take a look at this
video demonstration to see the potential.

Players in the market

Google seemed to be the first on the
market with Google glass. Unsurprisingly, that drove great awareness but
unfortunately they seemed to fail to reach a coolness factor, perhaps the
staggering $1,500 price tag? Google's
announcement last week proved that with the
discontinuation for consumers, however they are looking to re-work the project and steer
in a different direction.

But don’t despair, there are several
other entrants in the space from some of the biggest players in the market
including, Microsoft, Samsung and Oculus. Oculus arguably the most
well-known within this space, especially with their $2
billion purchase by Facebook giving it as much
packing poweras the multi-nationals.

I see Microsoft’s HoloLens is also
receiving some much deserved enthusiasm. The video above demonstrates how they
plan to use everyday surroundings to enable and use the device - it’s really
cool. So the ‘uncool’ brand could actually be on the verge of gaining
credit and I believe it’s the perfect timing. Market research firm Forrester
predicts that 3.6 million people will likely buy HoloLens products by the end
of 2016, ambitious but I would like to see it happen. Two other big players at
the forefront of this market are Oculus Rift and Samsung's Gear VR.

Samsung just released an
introductory video to show off their own tech, again some great features and in
particular, the street demos give the Gear VR a real practical look. With a
very reasonable price tag of $199 it makes it surprisingly affordable, enabling
easy take-up and a foreseeable future in the technology market.

Oculus Rift has been in the market a
few years now, however primarily focusing on the gaming aspect helping to
specialise in virtual reality travel. There are some great videos online of
people trying them out if you have some time. So far, they’ve had some fantastic
positive feedback giving a great indication of what’s to
come. With a little further development of games, within the technology this
market could become explosive. I really can see great potential. Having
the most development time behind them as well as a solid financial backing I
feel they are leading the way in innovation for visual reality, and with time
can they make it a practical reality.

So what does or can this mean for
Travel?

Experiences are everything from the
places you go, people you see, they all bound into memories of travel. This
technology can really enable people to picture, feel and truly represent
experiences like the real thing. Within the travel space, there are some really
exciting opportunities. One I feel is the use of VR to truly see and experience
a holiday before you have left your home, a ‘try before you buy’ reality for
example, in my opinion this could revolutionise the whole industry. Could
hotels and resorts have video footage that consumers can view to walk around
the hotel, see the pool and throw a stone onto the beach? An opportunity for a
travel agent to help a consumer get exactly what they want, subsequently
creating a happy customer for the agent. Say goodbye to those misleading
pictures? I think so.

This almost gives the entire power
to the consumer, giving them full control of getting the best possible holiday
for themselves. As well as this, who wouldn't want to have a ‘try before you
buy’ holiday? I found an article where Skyscanner has similar views in
their report
on future travel. This could almost be a travel agent’s
USP - ‘Come see your holiday before you buy.’ Could we, in fact, be one step
ahead and be sat on your sofa simply browsing holidays with a visual headpiece
on? Now wouldn't that be cool?

Let’s steer it away from the travel
agency now, these VR goggles are also creating holograms that users can
interact with, using only the environment surrounding them. Microsoft’s
HoloLense demonstrated this well in their video showing some great practical
ideas, especially with everyday living within your home. Screens on the wall,
wherever you are travelling or necessarily wherever needed, this is a real draw.
There is of course a massive gaming aspect, and I think that’s where oculus
have focused, whereas Microsoft may have focused into more of the social
practicality.

The number of experiences you could
possibly have with this technology is never ending. It may not be in the next
year or two but before 2020 I see this technology being widely accepted and
especially have a high take-up within the travel space and wider society on a
day to day basis. Extensive research and development as well as investment is
backing this industry, for example; Apple recently acquired several
patent’s in this area so I can only see it go from
strength to strength in growth. I see this market is expanding into a worldwide
focus, exciting investment can only add heat to the fire. This really leaves me
with a bubbling excitement for what’s around the corner, in particular the
number of possibilities this tech could be used for. I’ll leave you to imagine
a few of the possibilities Visual Reality could offer…

Official EyeforTravel Blog

EyeforTravel is a media company specialising in business intelligence for the travel and tourism industry. Our news website is one of the top three most visited travel trade websites globally.

We aim to present the latest news & insights on what is going on in the exciting world of travel and tourism. You will see different posts from some of the EyeforTravel team; Tim Gunstone (Founder), Shreya Ganapathy (Global Conference Director), Alex Hadwick (Head of Research), Leo Langford (Global Conference Producer) and Renu Kannu (Project Director).